Please start off here, and become familiar with the very important Community Guidelines. Violation of any of these rules will result in a warning, and can result in being banned. 'I did not know' will not be an acceptable excuse, as it is posted at the top of the board, here in the Welcome post. Everyone is expected to read this, and be familiar with it.

http://www.babycenter.com/community-help-guidelines

If you have any concerns or questions, please pass a note to one of us! If you see a thread or comment that you feel needs attention, use the "report this" link found in the bottom right corner and choose the Group Owner option. This is the fastest way for us to be able to respond- we will all get it and it provides us with a link to the thread. Remember, even if we don't provide you with a response about your report, we do read and look into every single one. If we decide action is required, we will take it.

Please remember this is a PUBLIC board. Anything you post here (photos, comments, threads, public journals etc) is public. Anyone who wants to search can find it. (Google your screenname and Babycenter and you may be surprised what comes up). Anything you post here can also be linked to Facebook, myspace, Twitter etc. If you do not want your photos, information, opinions, thoughts etc out there for anyone with determination and a computer to find, don't post it here!

Helpful Tips:
Please visit the Community Guidelines link at the bottom of the page for a list of common abbreviations & Community Guidelines

Profanity is not against BBC's guidelines unless it is in the title of a public thread or journal, profanity directed at other members is not tolerated.

Remember,

1. Personal attacks are unacceptable. Examples provided in Community Guidelines

2. Hate-speech is not permitted. Examples provided in Community Guidelines

3. Do not deliberately disrupt the community. If a thread is locked for disrupting the community and a spin off thread is created to continue the argument/drama, that thread will be deleted. If a spin-off is created to address "Drama" from a post that HAS NOT been locked/deleted, the post will be monitored closely, and locked if causing a disruption.

Debates that stay on topic, and are within community guidelines will stay open. However, threads that are created for the purpose of starting drama (fake or real) will be removed.

4. Bullying or harassment will not be tolerated. Some examples of what is considered bullying or harassment: Excessive messaging to a member to continue a disagreement, even when the member does not respond. Continuously posting on a thread to be disruptive without contributing to the original discussion. Calling out a member, either in a separate thread or within an existing thread, to insult, attack, harass. Stalking a member in other groups (public or private). Leaving harassing comments after you have been removed from a group, or warned to stop.

*"Ganging up" on a member for opposing beliefs, especially members who are not members of this group.

*Please be respectful of all the contributors to this board. If you are going to post something that could be potentially triggering to another person, please START the title of your post with *TRIGGER* so that others are alerted to its content and can know whether the post will be potentially triggering to them or not. This would include posts about miscarriage and abortion, but is not limited to those topics only. We have the right to remove your post if you do not identify it as a TRIGGER post. We will contact you by PAN and alert you to the fact that your thread is a trigger, and will temporarily shut it down until you change the title. If the title is not changed in a reasonable amount of time we will remove the thread completely. This is a common curtsey
to other members of the board going through an emotional time, you are expect to fix the post title when asked, and not make any rude, or argumentative comments to those requesting that it be titled TRIGGER.

* In addition, all threads/comments that refer to abortion as "murder" or "killing" will be removed.

5. Do not solicit or reveal personal information or private content yours or theirs.

6. No soliciting or SPAM.

-Please keep all "vote for my child/wedding/house" etc contests you enter on the vote for me board. There is a section in the guidelines that explains this in better detail.

-Please do not promote other boards or your cause on the board. You may do so in your signature, write about it in your journal, and of course, through private messaging.

7. Please read these rules regarding selling, swaps, giveaways, asking for donations, and asking for vote. It is not allowed here on this board. Their are designated boards for all of the above, please search for them, join them, and reserve those posts for those boards. Violation will result in a warning, and potential removal from BBC by a BabyCenter Admin. ( http://www.babycenter.com/community-help-selling )

8. Calling someone a "Troll" is against community guidelines. Remember, if you believe an account has been created for malicious purposes, please report to the Community Mods. They are better equipped to handle those situations, whereas Group Owners are very limited.

PLEASE REPORT anything you believe may violate BBC's guidelines to the owners so we can take care of it. You may also report to BBC directly, or to both the community and the owners at the same time.

Helpful links:
How-Tos

http://www.babycenter.com/community-help-howto

Community Guidelines

http://www.babycenter.com/community-help-guidelines

Acronyms and Abbreviations

http://www.babycenter.com/community-help-abbreviations

Remember, we are all here with the same goal in mind; to find support during this exciting yet trying time. Give the same respect that you expect to be given. Yes this is the internet, but that gives no one a license to be disrespectful, insulting, or threatening. Only YOU can make this board a welcoming place to be!

Welcome, everyone! Lets have a happy and healthy nine months and beyond!